


Sea of Wolves

by LadyPrince



Category: Starfighter (Comic), Starfighter Eclipse
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Era, Canon Rewrite, M/M, Mild Language, Mild Sexual Content, Rewrite
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-11
Updated: 2019-02-11
Packaged: 2019-10-26 10:57:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17744624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyPrince/pseuds/LadyPrince
Summary: When Helios finally manages to get a chance to go out and follow in his sister's footsteps, he takes it. The shuttle from Mars to Earth is long and exhausting, arduous, but when he gets a chance to take step on the Kepler take-off site, Helios finds that he can't bring himself to regret the path he has chosen to take.It is his luck, however, that the first mission goes awry near immediately, and he is forced in between a rock and a hard place with no idea what to do other than to try and make it through the days until Selene and him can fix everything up, and perhaps not ruin any friendships along the way.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This took two days to write.
> 
> Title inspired by _Sea of Voices_ by Porter Robinson and _The Wolf_ by SIAMÉS. Story inspiration motivated/sparked up by tardigradedeathposture/Campbell's post _[On the differences between Eclipse Cain and Webcomic Cain.](http://tardigradedeathposture.tumblr.com/post/154466946841/so-wait-you-consider-cain-in-starfighter-and-cain)_

The take-off site for the Kepler is extremely packed, not that Helios is that surprised by it. Navigators, or soon-to-be Navigators chat among themselves, wandering out from the rightmost shuttle that has brought them here, and the Fighters behind Helios are all rowdy, loud - they are shoving at each other, guffawing loudly and making so much noise, similar to how it used to be in the Colony, and he can’t help but find it just a bit relaxing.

It doesn’t feel like he is far from home, which is both a terrible thought to have and something that gives him a degree of calm, makes him think to Valentina and he exhales heavily.

 _‘I’m following after you, sis.’_ he thinks to himself, his throat working with the heavy swallow to try and force down the anxiety building in his chest, _‘just wait for me, okay? I know you’re still out there, no matter what.’_ he rubs at the back of his neck, then slings his bag over his shoulder and he squares his shoulders, finally taking the first few steps off of the bus’ ramp when he is able to, and Helios’s heart pounds against his ribcage.

Earth is far, far different than what he has ever thought it will be. Mars is - Mars is and always has been so very red, dusty, and full of way more volcanoes or remnants of volcanoes than Earth is, or at least this part of Earth. His eyes wander around, taking in the clear-blue sky not marred by the dust of its land, and the air here is -- it feels heavier, easier to breathe in than Mars’. Warmer, to the point that he feels almost overdressed.

This place is far beyond what he has ever thought he will have seen in movies. It is in his wonderment that he bumps into a Navigator, who seems to be waiting for someone, and nearly sends them both knocking down onto the dirt. His hand lashes out and he grabs at the elbow of the Navigator, manages to yank the short-haired man up onto his feet, and Helios stutters out his apologies while the Navigator just gently shushes him as if to tell him that it is okay.

He finally takes a deep breath, manages to stop the apologies from spilling out, and Helios pauses when he finally takes the other man in. Dark grey eyes peer at him kindly, scarred lips curl into a kind smile, and he is - briefly - distracted by the random yellow sitting in finely gelled white hair. “You must be the new Fighter!” the Navigator calls out after assessing him, and Helios flushes in embarrassment. “I’m Abel, a pleasure to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too,” Helios says, his voice thicker in accent than Abel’s, and the Navigator’s smile spreads wider, “I’m Helios. Are… you my Navigator?” he asks and Abel laughs, shakes his head, and his blush darkens further on his face. He can’t help the embarrassment that floods him and he opens his mouth to apologize again, but thinks better of it. He will just embarrass himself further.

“No, no. I have my own Fighter. He’s over there, actually, see - well, nevermind, lost in the crowd. Not that important. But yes, I have my own Fighter, so I’m not your Navigator. Maybe he’s already on the ship?” Abel goes on, pointing absentmindedly still to where his Fighter has gotten lost in the crowd, and Helios glances over regardless.

A crowd of Fighters seem to be surrounding someone, cheering something on and then laughing so loud that Helios can hear them all the way from over here, and he tilts his head. Abel seems to notice his silence, his gaze following where Helios is looking at, and he opens his mouth to speak, “my Fighter has this tiny bit of blue in his bangs.” Abel explains.

Helios tilts his head when he looks back to Abel, his gaze being returned with a bright expression on the other man’s face. Blue in his bangs? Why does he feel like he has heard about that somewhere?

He turns around to look at Abel, about to ask a question about his Fighter, but he finds himself interrupted when a sharp, deep voice calls out, “hey, Abel, you ready to go now or what, princess?” and someone is jogging up to them. It is a Fighter who comes up to them, with the aforementioned blue in his hair - his build is wider than his own, the man standing at least two inches taller, and something in the back of his head is whining at him that he should recognize this Fighter.

Said Fighter turns his head to look at him, the agitated scowl on his face quickly replaced with interest and curiosity, and Abel clears his throat. “This is Cain,” Abel presents with a wave of his hand, and it is then that it finally clicks as to who this man is. Helios tries not to gasp in surprise.

Everyone on the bus ride has been talking about him! A bunch of other Fighters - transferring away from one ship to another, ships that aren’t the Kepler, have been gossiping about him; about the best Fighter, _Cain,_ who is aggressive and wild but magnetic, and Helios stares at Abel, dumbfounded by the knowledge. He can feel Cain’s gaze burning into him, and Helios suddenly wants to _run._

“Who’re you?” Cain asks, looks over to Abel, then back at Helios, just to say, “you new? You chattin’-” and Helios doesn’t let him finish his sentence. He blurts out a “sorry, gotta go now, Navigator, bye!” and rushes past them, pushes past Cain and makes sure not to bump into Abel again, and he can feel both their gazes burning into his back as he practically sprints into the Kepler - Cain’s is inquisitive, and Abel’s is confused.

If there is anyone merciful out there, then with any luck he won’t have to face Cain again and worry about embarrassing himself further. He exhales heavily, presses a hand against his chest, and he looks up just to nearly jolt right out of his skin as a stern face greets him, an eyebrow raised up in amusement. “What’s gotten into you, rookie?” the man asks, and Helios recognizes him without even a second of hesitation.

This is his Commander - the man whose pictures he has been shown so that he knows how to respond to - and Helios is quick to snap up at attention and salute, which makes Encke roll his eyes. “Calm down, kid. I’m not here to force you into rules just yet.” his tone is light, welcoming, voice sweet. It helps him relax. “You must be the new kid though, right? Helios?” he nods, not trusting his voice just yet. “Hayden was impressed with your scores, and the score you got for the Navigator test.”

“I failed it.” Helios interjects, and immediately regrets it, his mouth stuttering to ready an apology but a look from Encke silences him.

“You got _decent_ from someone from the Colony, kid.” Encke says. “Sure, it ain’t Earth Navigator level intelligent - you seen the schools and curriculums those guys take?” Helios shakes his head. “It’s brutal. Be proud of yourself - both for your record, and for doing decently as a Colony kid.”

Helios swallows. “Thank you, sir, I’m just trying to do my best.” he says stiffly and Encke shakes his head, still smiling.

“No need for modesty. Anyway, anythin’ I can help you with, kid? You look spooked outta your mind.”

Helios fiddles with his thumbs, presses them together and shifts his feet, before he says, “I, um, I just ran into Cain, sir, and got nervous. That’s all.” Encke’s expression seems to darken at the mention of Cain’s name, and Helios tenses up.

“Look, kid. Be careful of Cain. You’re new, and don’t know what he’s like - so here’s a warning: _don’t_ associate with him, or Deimos.” who? He can’t bring himself to ask right now, however. “If he gives you shit, come to me. Don’t let him kick you around - I’ve dealt enough with him losin’ Navigators, and I can’t be havin’ Fighters dropping because of him.”

He nods. “I - I understand, sir?” he phrases it as a question without meaning to, but Commander Encke thankfully doesn’t seem to be all that bothered by it.

“Just keep your head up around him and refute him and, again, come to _me_ if he’s givin’ you big trouble.”

“I… yes, sir. I have to go find my Navigator now, do you think you could maybe know where he might be?” he asks softly, and Encke almost facepalms at him.

“Bering didn’t call you both in, huh? Figures. Go check your bunk, that might be where he might be. You know how to get there, right?”

“Yes, sir! Thank you for your help, sir!”

Encke just rolls his eyes at him because of the formality then waves him off, heading off in an entirely different direction than Helios as they both take their leave, and he brings up the thin tablet in his hand to look the map again, just to double check where he needs to be, then he takes a deep breath as he heads off to go and find his Navigator.

 

There isn’t much to be embarrassed about when he meets up with his Navigator - his hair is gorgeous, which is the first thing that catches Helios’ attention. It is a dark to lighter grey gradient, the transition so seamless that he is almost willing to believe that that is the Navigator’s actual hair colour. It takes him a few moments to find himself and actually pay attention to the other man, smile at him, and greet him proper, “I’m Helios, your new Fighter.” he says while shrugging his bag off of his shoulders and his Navigator smiles at him.

“I’m Selene, your new Navigator.” he says and reaches his hand out for a handshake, one that Helios stumbles to shake, and Selene is laughing a good-natured laugh, amused by his fumble in trying to shake his hand of all things. “Here’s to working well together.”

“Yeah!” Helios says a bit dumbly, lets go of Selene’s hand, and then flops onto the bottom bunk, before he then sits up abruptly, “wait, sorry, I didn’t ask if-”

“It’s fine.” Selene’s eyes twinkle mischievously, the corner of his lips twitching in amusement. “You can take bottom.” Helios raises an eyebrow when Selene snickers, and it doesn’t take him long to realize why the other man is laughing, and he fails to stop his own giggles as well. Still, he is far, far too tired right now - the trip from Mars to Earth has taken four months, two weeks and three days to get here and the accommodations for him has been far, far worse than what the Kepler offers, so he pretty much passes out without even bothering to change into something more comfortable.

When he wakes up, he finds that he has been tucked underneath the thin blanket, his boots have been set aside, and that he has been rearranged to lay his head on the pillow. He sits up a little bit, then realizes that the entire area is rumbling, shaking, and he is hit with a spark of giddiness when he realizes that the ship is _moving._ Holy shit he is _actually in space,_ and not on a shuttle that is meant to take him to Earth so he can board the Kepler.

Exhaustion hits him again soon enough, the excitement crashing down, and Helios closes his eyes and passes out once more.

 

He dreams of Valentina.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day is filled mostly with simulation training… and the day after that, and that one too, and then - well, it has been at least an entire week of simulation training, where Selene has been pushing himself extremely hard to do well in and Helios has been following suit. It is _exhausting_ as all hells, but it is satisfying to work himself to the bone and then witness the way Selene beams up at him after each training session, even though he seems to be sweating to death.

“Good job today.” Selene says kindly and Helios grins, feeling far, far too good about himself right now and he throws his left palm up at Selene. His Navigator stares at him then shakes his head, rubs at his forehead with his left hand before he gives Helios a high-five with his right.

The smack is loud and thunders in Helios’ chest, makes him laugh so hard his teeth are rattling, and Selene joins him in the laughing fit. The other Navigator-Fighter duos glance at them briefly, as if trying to figure out if they are annoying or amusing in their own right, and they look away just as quickly as they have peeked. Helios wheezes, stands upright, and beams at Selene. “I don’t know why that was so funny.” Selene admits, and Helios snickers.

“It just is.” Helios says simply, and Selene looks ready to say something before the announcement rings out - they look at each other, then nod and head off to change out of their suits and back into their uniform. Their bunk thankfully isn’t that far away from the briefing hall, so they can spare to get changed while the other Fighter-Navigator duos have to go in their fight suits, looking exhausted and grimy.

Looking at them makes Helios want to shower, before his thoughts are distracted by Selene who leads him away to the briefing hall.

 

Just like the very first day at the take-off site, the entire briefing hall is packed. Navigators and Fighters are squeezing against each other, trying their hardest to find chairs before they are all taken up, and Selene pats at his arm. “I’m going to go and find us a seat.” is what he says before he leaves Helios to his lonesome, and he fidgets there for a few seconds.

Well, he supposes that this is as good as time as any to be social. He wanders around, greets a few of the Fighters and Navigators, mostly exchanges quick pleasantries as the Commander, Commanding Officer, and Commanding Navigator get ready to make the announcement, and Helios finds himself flowing in and out of the Navigator and Fighter crowds until he bumps into someone.

“Oh, sorry-” he begins, but when that person turns around to look at him, he freezes in place.

Cain stares down at him, tilting his head back to make himself seem taller despite their minute height difference, and Helios feels his stomach flutter. He has done his best to avoid the Fighter for a week; he hasn’t run into Abel all week, so that means he hasn’t run into Cain, and he can avoid the little infatuation he has for Cain and his alleged-prowess as a Fighter.

There is a grin on Cain’s face when he takes in Helios’ flabbergasted expression, and he snorts. Next to him stands a small, mousy Fighter, someone who distracts Helios briefly thanks to his stunning, gorgeous eyes - one of them unfortunately hidden underneath a long fringe of black hair - only for Cain to snap his fingers in front of Helios’ face and bring his attention back to him.

“What’cha looking at Deimos for?” he asks, and Encke’s words briefly come to mind. “He doesn’t want your attention.” he says, and Deimos looks down and away, a small frown on his face. “And he definitely ain’t gonna talk to you. Anyway, you know who I am, right?”

Helios nods automatically.

“Course ya do, Abel introduced me, then you ran the fuck off and he decided not to tell me who the fuck you were.” Cain says, and he sounds almost-angry but also almost-amused. _Just almosts._ He feels like that shouldn’t be possible, not really, but he still flushes in shame underneath Cain’s piercing stare. “So, ya wanna introduce yourself, or nah?”

“I’m Helios.” he says far too quickly, stumbling over Cain’s words enough to create a small cacophony, and the other Fighter snorts in amusement. “I’m - I’m the Fighter for Edifice.” he doesn’t know why he is telling Cain this, but he just stares at Helios with an infuriating smirk on his face. “Sorry for running off on you last time.”

He looks down, only to immediately jerk his head up when an arm abruptly swings around his shoulder and tugs him close to Cain, presses him up against his side, and he looks up, dumbfounded and surprised, at the sudden action. “Finally got a name on you!” Cain says, “I know practically every Fighter here - I mean, mostly. I don’t remember the ones who ran off.”

Didn’t Encke say something about that? Does he think that they ran off because of Cain? “Oh.” is the only thing Helios can say, and Cain shakes his head. “Why didn’t you ask the other Fighters here who I was then?”

“Did you talk to anyone else?” Cain fires back.

He makes a good point. Helios has been a bit antisocial because of the training, having been doing some on his own private time when Selene isn’t around or is busy because he is so damn excited to be out in _space,_ the only place not really corrupted by capitalism.

“No,” he admits shamefacedly, “I’ve been busy.” Cain tugs him closer, causing his head to bump against his chest, and Helios looks down at his feet.

Cain hums, then steers Helios away and barks at Deimos to follow him as he does. He stumbles over his own feet, until Cain finally lets him go so that Helios can walk normally. “So, what was the runnin’ away thing about?” Cain drawls out, sounding almost sleepy as he does, and Helios fights back a smile at how oddly cute that is.

“No reason.” Helios says, and Cain looks at him pointedly. “I was tired and I really wanted to find my Navigator, which is why I talked to Abel in the first place.” he is only half-lying, really. Or well, half-telling the truth; he didn’t realize how tired he was at the time, so he can’t say definitively that it was because of exhaustion that he ran away.

The real reason, however, is way too embarrassing to mention. “I thought he was my Navigator because he mentioned me being new, and I thought he was new, too.” Helios says, his voice growing smaller and smaller with each word at Cain’s intense gaze, but the other man is just smirking at him all the same.

“Yeah?” he asks. “That the only reason why you talked to my Navigator?”

“Yeah.” Helios confirms. “I haven’t talked to Abel all week, I swear. I’m sure Selene has - I think he works with him, right? So he has to have.”

Cain’s arm finds purchase around his shoulder again and his heart flutters in his chest, speeding up to an embarrassing speed at the touch. “I believe in you, chill.” Cain says after a far-too-long moment of silence. His arm is still around Helios, caging him against his side, and he tries to breathe deeply to get over the building anxiety. “You really just spoke to my Navigator ‘cause you thought he was yours, and that’s about it?”

“Yes!” Helios snaps out. “That’s really it; is there like a reason why you’re grilling me like this?”

Cain tilts his head to the side, his fringe of hair closest to Helios falling in line as if to frame his face, while the one farthest hangs limply in the air. The smug smirk on his face never once fades away, and it is a look that is both infuriating and extremely fitting on his face. “Just wanted to make sure; ya can’t trust Fighters, ‘specially not ones like Praxis.”

Praxis? Oh, he remembers running him into him on his second day of training; a tall guy with an eyepatch. Handsome - extremely handsome - and Helios tries not to recall the filthy fantasy he has that night after seeing him. They actually begin talking on the third day, where Praxis has been hard to talk to but Helios manages to breakthrough thanks to his persistence.

“I don’t think Praxis’s a bad guy.” Helios murmurs and Cain snarls when he hears that. His hand curls into a fist from where it hangs next to Helios’ shoulder, his posture becomes a little straighter, but he grins down at Helios as if he doesn’t seem so clearly agitated. “But if you don’t like him I won’t mention him…?” he suggests and Cain blinks.

“Sure, whatever you say.” his voice is dismissive, almost as if he hasn’t been extremely tense over the mention of Praxis’ name, and Helios wonders if he has made some sort of mistake. “You look like you know me when you look at me like that.” Cain points out and Helios stammers when he realizes his staring has been called out, his face going a deep dark red in embarrassment.

He opens and closes his mouth, then clears his throat, and manages to finally say: “I’ve heard the other Fighters talk about you while we were on the shuttle.” is what he gives as an explanation, and it is when he sees Encke and a familiar looking Navigator walking up to the mission screen that he manoeuvres himself out of Cain’s grip. “I have to go to my Navigator.” he says curtly. “The briefing’s about to begin.” he doesn’t let Cain say anything else before he is running off on him, again.

He can feel Cain’s eyes burning holes into his back. He quietly prays that he won’t run into him much as he takes his seat next to Selene, who looks at him sympathetically. “Cain chase you away, or something? You were starting to look really uncomfortable.”

“You saw?” Selene looks away, tucks a strand of hair behind his own ear, then stares up at the mission briefing screen before glancing back to Helios.

“Somewhat. Abel noticed it first; he was about to actually walk up to you to get you away from Cain because he said you looked so… well, anxious. You doing okay, Helios?”

His mouth goes dry. He feels almost ashamed when Selene looks at him with those worried eyes, and Helios stares ahead. Selene follows suit. “I’m… yeah, I’m okay. It’s a bit like… I don’t know if you’d call it hero worship?” the last part of his sentence is said in a whisper for only Selene to hear, wanting to be quiet just in case Cain passes by.

“Hero worship?” Selene whispers back, then settles a comforting hand on Helios’ knee before he lets it drop. “You sure?”

“Yeah.” Helios shifts in his seat. “He’s the best Fighter, and it was a bit overwhelming to be near him, that’s all.”

“Okay, I’m here if you need to… I don’t know, talk?” Selene chuckles. “Sounds kinda weird to say it out-loud.”

He can’t disagree; a stranger to another, though maybe they won’t be strangers for long. “I appreciate it anyway.” Helios reassures, then they are both silenced when the highest ranking Navigator, who he remembers late is called Keeler, yells out to everyone for their attention.

Hayden’s briefing makes his heart sink into his stomach, however; he is going to be on the same ship route as Cain and Abel, and not only that… but he remembers this - not the mission itself, no, but remembers the secret, small diary entries that Valentina has been able to sneak back to him, just so that he can hear her voice again.

He remembers dreaming about this and dread sinks into his belly. His hands tremble. When Selene looks at him questioningly, Helios shoots him a glare then looks away, swallows down the knot of anxiety in his throat, and when he looks back he sees that he is still being given a questioning look.

“Let’s go.” Helios says and Selene stands up to follow him so that they may get changed.

 

The good thing about the ship is that, thankfully, Helios and Selene are mostly scouting ahead in opposite directions from Abel and Cain. It spares him the awkwardness of talking to Abel, and he watches Selene work on some of the terminals available to them.

Some of them look old - not by much, but old enough to be noticed. Selene points out that these ones seem at least twenty years old, then proposes that it isn’t too far-fetched to think that that may be because either the make of the ship is just old, or it is chosen old on purpose.

“It seems weird for them to be old on purpose,” Helios says, “I think maybe it’s just budget…?”

“Sometimes, older machinery is harder to mess with than the newer ones. Sounds weird, I know, but, something twenty years old is different enough to be hard to tamper with compared to what we have now; it’s clunkier. We’re advancing way too fast for our own good.” Selene murmurs, and Helios chooses not to make a comment yet. “The terminals on Kepler are two years behind on the latest OS back on Earth, for example.”

Helios blinks. “Oh. I didn’t know that.” Selene looks at him, then has the face to look embarrassed and guilty when he realizes what has just transpired, and he busies himself instead with trying to get information from the terminals onto his tablet. There is a brief compatibility issue that Selene has to call Abel over for some help with, the two of them sharing a look with each other that almost Helios feel like he is intruding on something.

He hears a growl from the far right, snapping all of them back to reality and Abel mouths apologetically at Selene before he is going back to Cain so that he can continue work on the main console in the room. Helios looks up, makes eye contact with Cain, then immediately looks away when he sees the burning look in his eyes.

“Manage to get anything?” Helios asks after a few minutes, and Selene turns around to answer him - only for everything to go wrong then.

An explosion from Abel’s console roars out, a flashing of light bursting free, and Helios grabs Selene and hides his face into his chest while his hand comes up to cover up his own eyes. When the terrible ringing recedes in his ears and the light has dimmed, Helios looks down and gasps.

The information bank - he pushes himself away from Selene just as the bank is about to fall from Abel’s grip as he stumbles back and dives in to catch it. His head is spinning, his ears burning hot, and he wobbles when he stands up with the information bank in his hands. Cain catches onto the falling Abel and Helios is limping back to check-up on Selene, breathing a sigh of relief when his Navigator is doing fine.

“Your ears,” Selene gasps out, more surprised than anything, “you’re bleeding.”

“Ah.” is the only thing Helios can muster out. He gives Selene the information bank then manages his way over to Abel and Cain, grabbing at the former’s legs while the latter just stares at him. “Lemme - lemme help carry him out. You’re bleeding, too.”

Cain clicks his tongue at him, but he doesn’t say much of anything. He just stares at Helios, looks absolutely confident as he hooks his arms underneath Abel’s armpits even though he has gotten some of the worst of _whatever_ went wrong. He is squinting his eyes, his gaze unfocused, and his face is bleeding - his ears bleeding, too.

Worse than his own, he bets. They both grunt and let out a heavy exhale when they pick Abel up and carry him away; his head lolls to the side, the Navigator wholly unconscious, and Helios feels something like panic bubble in his chest. He tries his best to stamp it out, his breathing growing heavier, and it is when Cain barks out his name that he looks up and away from Abel’s unconscious face.

“Don’t fall apart on me right now.” Cain growls out menacingly, the light back in his eyes, and Helios swallows. “We’re on a mission, and you can’t run away from anythin’ here.”

Somehow, even though Cain doesn’t intend for it, that is enough to ground him back to reality and allow him to focus on not letting Abel fall.

 

They all stay a ‘night’ in med bay, with mission debriefing being delayed until the next day, and Helios stares out at the window ahead to take in the swaying, calming movement of the stars. “You’re going to be fine, son.” the Medical Officer - Harold, because the medics and the engineers don’t really have to worry about codenames - tells him, his voice gruff and fatherly, and Helios closes his eyes. “You can take the bandages off tomorrow afternoon.”

“Thank you.” Helios murmurs sleepily, the words sounding more like “fnk fu” than anything else. Harold pets his shoulder, then leaves him alone so that he can settle in and pass out, with thanks to the meds.

Cain is resting to his left, his mouth open and his breaths leaving him slowly, deeply. He falls asleep thinking about how calm and serene Cain looks for the first time that Helios has seen him, at least.

 

 

Valentina’s face greets him in his dreams again.


	3. Chapter 3

Hayden calls them up the moment they are able to; the only one who can’t come, in person, is Abel, and Selene looks sorry about that when he mentions it to Keeler and Hayden. Keeler pets his shoulder sympathetically, then lets his hand linger on Selene before he lets go, and Hayden just sighs before he tells him to go take a seat.

Cain takes a seat next to Selene over on his right, with one leg folded atop the other and his arms crossing behind his head, the bandage around his head making him look ridiculous, and Helios shuffles past him only for a hand to grab him by the elbow.

Selene looks at them both with alarm as Helios is jerked away by Cain and falls over right next to him, the rough pull making him land with a pronounced _thunk_ onto the chair, and he lets out a soft _oof._ “Don’t be a pansy.” Cain says sharply and Helios glares at him, then down at his hand that is still on his arm, and the other Fighter stares at him before he relents with a grunt and lets him go.

He really will have preferred to sit next to, or close to Selene without Cain in between, mostly because the former is way more comforting and reassuring than the latter, but there really isn’t anything he can do when Hayden begins the debriefing and the entire hall goes quiet.

The praise thrown his way makes him want to shrink, makes him wish that Selene has just taken the credit instead, and Helios covers his face up to avoid the approving and proud looks that Hayden and Selene openly give him. What he misses is the way Cain looks at him through the corner of his eyes, his posture rigid and straight, arms crossing in front of him while he takes Helios in.

His eyes narrow, but he goes back to looking up at Hayden while all of the debriefing is going on while Helios keeps his face hidden in his palms. Abel and Selene are given, at most, only this day to rest before they all have to go back to their duties and decode the data. Cain and Helios will be given at least a week or less of rest before they will then be sent back onto the ship to salvage whatever has been left behind so that they can recover the hardware.

“The power on the ship seems to have malfunctioned with that blast,” Hayden says, “that is what Tiberius has found, so it should be safer to wander around there. The only issue is that it will be in no-grav, so getting your footing may be a bit more difficult. Cain and Helios will be going back to the ship, of course, for salvage. For the sake of this mission, you two will have temporary Navigators from Central to pilot the ships; Cain will have Ares, and Helios will have Pathos. You are dismissed.”

They all go their separate ways once they have been dismissed; Cain seems intent on avoiding the med bay for now, grabbing Deimos and forcing him away from Phobos to come with him, Selene wants to go back to their bunk and rest, and Helios wants to go remove his bandages and then check up on Abel just to make sure he is recovering well.

Anything to be out of here.

 

Harold is there to greet him when he steps into the med bay; a kind smile spreads out on his face, the wrinkles around his eyes noticeable especially when he grins, and Helios is quick to gravitate to him and avoid all the other medics in there – especially when they look at him with annoyance written all over their face – and he stops before the taller man. He presses his palms together and keeps his expression neutral when he asks, “can I remove my bandages right now?”

He gets a slow blink from the older man, then he watches as he runs a hand through his finely combed hair and messes it all up. There are heavy shadows under his eyes, and he can see the fatigue finally settling into the smile when Helios makes the request. “You shouldn’t remove it for another two hours,” Harold begins, and Kassandra – another medic – hands him a small pill bottle when he waves her over before dismissing her, “but your injury isn’t that bad, and you can take this if you feel any sort of pain.”

“Thanks.” Helios says as he takes the pill bottle, then settles down in a chair so that Harold can remove the bandages around his head, inspect to see if anything has gotten worse, then he hears him murmur before he leaves to wash his hands, grab a washcloth, and begins to gently dab the wet cloth across his scrape for a little bit. He winces, but the sting really isn’t that bad in the grand scheme of things.

He sits through it until Harold backs off and throws the washcloth away, and before he can leave to go and check up on someone else, Helios is quick to say, “is it okay if I visit Abel right now?”

Harold’s answer is near immediate and almost distracted when he responds, “he should be fine. His brain scans are coming off normal; he really should be having more than a day’s rest, if you ask me. I don’t understand what our Commanding Officer is doing.” he shakes his head with disapproval and Helios smiles nervously. “He’s on the right, all the way at the end. Don’t let him make any sudden movements, as in sitting up quickly or trying to stand up, and he’s fine.”

Helios nods absentmindedly, then makes his way over to Abel and breathes a sigh of relief when he sees him very much awake and healthy, if restless. He is looking around, his eyebrows pinched together, and Helios gives him a bashful smile when Abel’s eyes fall onto him finally. “Helios!” he cries out, “come over here, I’m bored out of my _mind!_ ”

Well, he can’t really blame Abel for saying that. He nods apologetically at one of the medics he bumps into as he makes his way over to Abel, then sits next to him by his cot, and scratches his cheek as he wonders what to say. “You okay?” he asks finally, a bit limply.

“I’m great, actually. I’m _ready_ to get out of bed and get out there and do _whatever_ but they won’t let me.”

Harold, as though being summoned through sheer force of will, calls out, “you still need your bedrest! You got the brunt of the blast!” before he goes back to doing whatever it is that he is busy with. Helios twiddles his thumbs together and smiles bashfully.

“Sorry, Abel. But it’s only a day, at least? I think Cain’s going to go stir crazy not being able to do anything for a week.”

“Really? A week?” Abel says as he wiggles backwards a little so that he is, somewhat, reclining against the wall to look at Helios better, “why is he getting a week?”

“Cain and me both.” Helios corrects. “Commander Hayden wants us to go back and see if we can salvage anything.” he thinks he almost sees Abel tense up, but when he blinks he sees him relaxed and chalks that up to his imagination. “I kinda don’t wanna go back to the ship, but, it’s what the Commander wants.”

Abel nods thoughtfully, his expression pensive for a few seconds before it brightens up once more, looking sweet. “Hey, do you think you can do something for me?” Abel asks, reaches out to Helios with his hand and – he jerks away in surprise when it comes to rest on his thigh, the chair clattering behind him, and everyone stares at him like he has committed murder. Abel blinks up at him.

“Sorry, sorry – you just – nothing. Nevermind. Wh- what do you want me to do?” Abel peers at him curiously, and Helios pales, absolutely embarrassed by his reaction.

“I just need you to go check up on the data they’ve recovered later. Can you do that for me?” he grins up at him when he says that, but the smile on his face doesn’t reach his eyes, and Helios wonders if he has offended him somehow. He lets out a nervous, stuttered yes, then turns to leave – and he feels all the air leaving his lungs when he sees Cain waiting at the entrance to the med bay.

His arms are crossed in front of him, expression tight with amusement, and Helios thinks he is going to vomit. The bandages around his head have been removed, which means he must have come in here and witnessed the entire exchange between Abel and him, and Helios’ ears are burning with the humiliation and embarrassment. There is absolutely no way that Cain has missed his blunder, and all he can do is stare back at the other Fighter.

Cain follows after him even when he walks past him and leaves the med bay, the Fighter trailing behind him and Helios doesn’t know whether or not to speed up or to slow down so that Cain walk side-by-side with him. He comes to a gradual stop, crosses his arms in front of himself, and turns to face Cain just as they get to the end of a hallway. “What is it?” Helios asks, his eyes darting away from Cain when the man stares him straight in the eyes, and he yelps in surprise when his chin is grabbed and he is forced to look at the other Fighter. “Hands off-”

“Why’d you freak out at Abel?”

He slaps Cain’s hand off of his chin, takes in a deep breath to try and calm his nerves, then exhales heavily. “I just – I thought it was inappropriate, okay?” Helios snaps out. “Is that literally the only thing you wanted to ask me? Seriously? I’m gonna go now-”

“Come training with me.” he says and Helios narrows his eyes. “Hey, don’t gimme that look, Queenie-“

“Queenie?” he asks incredulously, “why the fuck are you calling me _queenie?_ ”

“You got a royal stick up your ass. Thought it’d fit.”

He almost doesn’t know whether to feel incredulous or absolutely insulted. His mouth falls open in blank surprise and he stares at Cain, teeth clicking together noisily while he tries to formulate words. He counts to ten in his head, then exhales through his mouth once he is calm down enough. “All you want to do is train?” Helios asks, pointedly ignoring the frank admission, and Cain shrugs. “Fine. Let’s go.”

_‘It’ll probably do me good to train with the ‘best Fighter’, anyway.’_

 

The gym is packed at this time – closer to early afternoon, where Fighters are restless and want to get all of the physical aggression out. Some of the more buff, muscular Navigators are here as well, some of them even having friendly little boxing matches with the other Fighters, but Helios doesn’t have time to actually admire everyone else when Cain is yanking him by the wrist.

They settle into a sort of rhythm; Cain makes him go through all of the same equipment as him, and then challenges him to a spar that makes Helios realize that the other Fighter is _mostly_ strength with some agility to him. Cain’s punches hurt like a _motherfucker_ and he is sure if Harold is to see what they are doing right now, then they will have been royally fucked. Cain more so than Helios.

Still, there is something riveting about managing to trick Cain with a feint and then tackle him down onto the floor, his knees pressing into the crook of his elbows to keep him pinned down, and Helios pants and breathes heavily while his mouth is spread in a wide, toothy grin. He settles down on Cain’s chest, causing him to let out a soft _oof_ as his weight drops on him a little, and Helios slumps over. “I – I won that one.” Helios wheezes out, then stumbles over onto the side and rolls away from Cain, sitting up on a mat so that he can hug his knees close to his chest, and he giggles. “I think… it’s – four to five, right? You got one more victory over me.”

Cain cackles, the sound weird and wheezy, rough and a bit nasty, and Helios wipes the sweat off of his forehead. He doesn’t have any towels with him or anything, so he can’t wipe himself clean, and he is going to have to wear his sweaty clothes if he wants to change. He lets out a quiet groan, wondering why he even let Cain convince him to do this, but he stands up anyway and decides that getting clean and walking around with a sweaty sleeveless shirt is better than being a sweat-factory all-around.

He runs his hands through his slick, sticky hair, and he jerks forward when a hand smacks his back. Cain has stood up as well, when Helios has been distracted, and he ends up herding him towards the showers. Deimos is around and he hasn’t even heard him come in or get close, the smaller man slinking around until Cain tells him to get them clothes and he is gone, just like a whisper – faint and quick, unheard to some.

“Let’s go shower together, Queenie.” Cain says, and Helios feels his heart drop into the pit of his stomach only for it to then be surrounded by the endless fluttering of butterflies, and the irritation at the nickname isn’t even enough to make him ignore the nervousness in his belly.

He hurries through showering with Cain, nearly falls onto his face because the other Fighter has decided to slap him on the ass with a wet towel and Helios nearly howls at that because _who does that!?_ and he tries to ignore the way Deimos stares at his body, takes him in, when he hands Helios something to wear. He has to wear his old briefs, listens to Cain snort and say something along the lines of _“they look more like panties than briefs”_ as he does, and then when he puts the clothes on he realizes that the shirt is a little too loose, the pants wider than usual.

“These aren’t from my bunk.” Helios says after a while, and a corner of Deimos’ lips curls up in amusement. “These are…”

“Hah! They’re mine.” Cain guffaws at that, with Deimos still looking at Helios with that odd little smile on his lips. His eyes shine, looking beautiful with the mirth dancing in them, and his breath gets caught in his throat. The laughter from Cain comes to an abrupt stop and Deimos glances his way before the smile on his face is gone, his expression neutral once more. “C’mon, let’s go –”

He moves to grab at Helios _again,_ because the only thing Cain ever does is grab him, only to halt when the lights in the gym goes out, bathes them in darkness, then flicker back on again near immediately. Helios is already sprinting away from Deimos and Cain, his boots clanking against the floor noisily as he rushes away to the Hangar to meet up with the techies there again.

Their words do calm him down somewhat, but Helios still finds him in a heightened state of anxiety. His feet are moving on automatic now, taking him to the bridge where Selene is diligently working away after his rest, the bandages gone from his head as well, and he almost collapses from the relief when he is given a smile from his Navigator. “Selene!” he cries out and rushes over, ignoring the look his Navigator gives him when he sees that he isn’t wearing his usual clothes and that his hair is clearly wet.

Wait, shit. He forgot about his sweaty clothes back at the gym – he just left them there in his hurry! Holy _shit_ he is the number one dumbass. He bites back the irritation at himself, not wanting to snap at Selene by accident, and takes a few moments to try and collect himself. “Is… is everything okay?”

There is a second where Selene nods, not really saying anything, his eyes darting around and he motions at Helios to come closer. “I think someone tampered with the ship.” is what he whispers into Helios’ ear and his eyes widen at the knowledge. He straightens up at that, looks at Selene with worry clear in his gaze, and his Navigator stands up. “We should probably go back to our bunk,” he says loudly, “there isn’t anything else I can do right now, and I’m not really specialized in this.”

“Ah, yeah. Right.” Helios says limply and lets Selene lead them back, stopping briefly to look at the folded clothes set neatly in front of their door and he dives down to grab at his dirty uniform, and doesn’t ask anything else but definitely gives Helios a _look._ “Don’t worry about it?” the question in his voice is so comical that even he winces, with Selene just staring at him for a bit longer before he inputs the code in and uses his thumb to open the door up.

It is when they are in the privacy of their own bunk [and after Helios has thrown his clothes down the laundry chute] that Selene _bursts_ into explanation. His words are a flurry of ideas and suspicions, dragging down heavy with exhaustion, and Helios has to constantly interrupt him so that he can keep up with what Selene is saying and be given a chance to take the information in.

“You think… a Navigator’s tampered with the ship?” he asks uncertainly, his eyebrows pinching together. Selene just looks pensive at the question.

“Maybe, but I’ll have to keep looking through and checking. I think I know who it is.” and Helios can only guess, because he isn’t really paying attention to the other Navigators – not like he can. “Have you noticed Abel being weird lately, Helios?”

“I don’t know.” he answers honestly. “I’ve only ran into him like, two times my entire time here. You’d have to ask Cain – he’s his Fighter, so he’d know, right?”

Selene fidgets, looking nervous for the first time since their entire duration together, and Helios’ heart leaps to his throat. “I don’t think Cain is as interested in talking to me,” he says slowly, “as he is in talking to you, Helios.”

“What... what’s that supposed to mean?”

“We should probably go to sleep, Helios.” Selene says hastily while he clumsily sidesteps the question, and it isn’t like he can even bring himself to complain about the suggestion. He takes his time in try to dry his hair first, and Selene’s nervous disposition is quick to be replaced by interest as Helios dries his hair, then spends an annoying amount of time to make sure it won’t take shape in a hideous way.

In the morning, he will have to fix his hair up even further, but this all thankfully takes the edge away, and now he is just… sitting in front of the bottom bunk, where Selene is sitting behind him, and he closes his eyes to relax when he feels delicate fingers run through his hair. “Hey.” Selene says gently, and Helios says a quiet, affirming ‘hm?’ in response. “Let’s go to sleep now.”

Yeah. “Sleep sounds good right about now.”

 

 

He dreams of Valentina’s growing panic that night.


	4. Chapter 4

Mornings and nights are kind of hard to tell apart without any digital clock, and thankfully every single bunk has a clock above the door. Most of the hallways also have clocks in them, which makes it way easier to tell the time… and also way easier to be extremely paranoid about what someone needs to do at what time. It is five-thirty in the morning when he wakes up, forced into being awake thanks to the way his nightmare ends, and he tries not to scream. Selene is still sleeping above him, so he needs to – he needs to really calm down. He takes a few deep breaths, then closes his eyes and tries to force himself back to sleep.

The next time he wakes up it is because Selene wakes him up, shaking him awake because Helios is hyperventilating in his sleep, and the wake-up call helps to slow down his pacing brain. “Can you hear me? Helios? Helios? Can you hear me?” Selene repeats to him, over and over again, until Helios closes his eyes and nods back. “I’m sorry for waking you up, you were crying.”

His mouth cracks open, then closes his mouth and swallows down the build-up of saliva. His eyes are burning up, dried from crying in his sleep, and Helios rubs at his face. “Sorry,” Helios murmurs, “I just had a bad dream. Don’t – don’t ask. I don’t want to answer.” Selene looks conflicted at that; he likes to call it that _natural nosiness of Navigators_ warring with his sympathetic side, and thankfully the sympathetic side wins over. “What time is it?”

“Eight in the morning.”

“M’gonna get prepared and leave soon.” Helios says, pushes Selene away and his Navigator gives easily, and he stands up on wobbly legs. Sliding Cain’s pants off of his body is easy enough, so is his shirt, and he wonders how he is going to return the Fighter’s clothes, before he decides to just put that aside for way, _way_ later.

It feels like he is settling back into his own skin again when he puts on clothes that actually fit, and the moment he steps outside of his bunk he finds himself standing right in front of a very healthy looking Abel. “Helios!” Abel calls out, his hands clapping together in delight, and Helios is left wondering what Abel is doing outside of his bunk. Is his own nearby somewhere? “How are you? I was hoping you’d be available to talk, actually.” he smiles pleasantly at Helios, eyes shining with hope that he will be able to talk to him, and he looks back at the door, then towards Abel and nods minutely.

That seems to be enough to encourage Abel to talk to him. “I haven’t seen you at all lately,” he says, “well, apart from the mission and med bay, of course.”

“You were in bed most of yesterday.” Helios points out, and Abel’s smile almost looks _nasty_ at that yet the look is gone as quickly as it came, leaving his mind reeling and him wondering if he has just imagined it all.

“I was discharged three hours later.” Abel’s voice is painfully saccharine when he says that, and he can’t tell if that sweetness is artificial or not. “And I couldn’t find you anywhere… but when I asked around, people said you were hanging out with my Fighter.” a pause, then, “you’ve been getting along really well with Cain, haven’t you?”

The words are accusatory and come off as a scolding, something that makes Helios flush hotly with shame. He opens and closes his mouth, unsure of how to respond to Abel, and he has to run his hands through his hair just to be able to get his head on straight. “It’s all accidental, I swear.” Helios tries to explain away, “we just keep running into each other, and it’s… really hard to get away from Cain, so we just… hang out?”

Abel is eyeing him up and down curiously, his face blank, and that makes something in Helios jitter anxiously. Then, a grin breaks out on Abel’s face, his eyes falling half-lidded as he takes Helios in, and he stands up straighter at the look he is being given. His tongue runs across his lower lip and Helios wants to say something.

He can’t really get the words to escape his throat; they get stuck there and clog his esophagus, and he has to swallow a good few times. “I’m glad you’re both getting along,” Abel says coyly, a hand coming to settle on Helios’ shoulder, “it’d be nice if we could all just… have a moment together, right? All three of us?”

“Uh?”

“You and Cain have been getting along very well,” Abel continues, “and you haven’t been spending time with me – and if the only way I’ll have you with me is by having Cain along, then…”

“It’s accidental!” Helios blurts out, finally managing to take a step back and dislodge the hand resting on his person, “Cain and I just – it really is accidental, I swear. We just keep running into each other, and – I’m not deliberately avoiding you.”

The way Abel looks at him causes him to falter, the heat in his body from his denial dissipates quickly, and now he feels kind of ridiculous. Abel settles a hand on his hip, fingers splaying out lazily, and he cants his head to the side. “Cain isn’t an accidental person.” Abel says conversationally, his free hand coming up to curl a loose lock of his own hair around his index before he reaches out for Helios again.

This time, Selene is the one who interrupts this… this dance that Abel is trying to get Helios to engage in. His Navigator wraps an arm around Abel’s, making him stop in place and stare at Selene with extreme bewilderment, and Helios blinks. Selene looks over his way, waves his hand, and says, “Abel and I have to go to work now. Take care-”

_“Helios from Ship, Edifice, report to Commander Hayden.”_

“Ouch.” Selene says, and Helios wonders what he has done to have such a stressful morning. Abel is dragged away to work by his Navigator, who is chatting him up easily, standing taller than him, and Selene seems at ease with Abel as he disappears around a corner. Helios steels himself and turns the other way, his boots loud in the empty hallway as he leaves for Hayden’s office.

 

Being new in the military _sucks,_ Helios has decided. He holds heavy in his heart what Hayden has told him; he wants him to spy on the others and then report back to him, snitch on him, and Helios has reluctantly agreed but he has no desire to be a whistleblower. He brings his palms up and rubs at his face, wonders what to do or think or say for a moment, wonders if it will be too weird to scream in the middle of a hallway.

 _‘Valentina,’_ he thinks, _‘did you ever have to deal with this? And if you did, why didn’t you ever make diary entries on them? I would’ve appreciated the help.’_ his thoughts aren’t bitter, not really; just exasperated, mostly. He feels something vibrate in his pocket – his PDA, something that everyone on the ship has despite Selene’s complaints about its inadequacy – and he brings the little device out, only to groan and nearly slam his head into the hallway.

Selene is calling him up to the bridge, probably to talk to him about last night, and Helios still hasn’t had breakfast yet. He puts the PDA away, then takes a sharp left so that he can head over to the bridge. It really will have been nice to have a second to _breathe_ right now, but that is life, and life isn’t very fair. Abel is at the bridge too, surrounded by people who are praising him for his quick work, and Selene is on the opposite end.

He looks perturbed as he looks at Abel, his eyes narrowing in suspicion, but his features relax when Helios comes to stand by him and gives him a grin. “Hey, you called?” he asks, and Selene indicates at the empty chair next to him. “This about…” he makes wave hand motions, not wanting to say anything that will easily be misconstrued, and Selene gives him a jerky nod.

“I think I know who it is.” Selene whispers to him after he turns his console off, as well as the one Helios is sitting at, and he blinks. “And I hate that I know who it is, too. He hasn’t been himself lately, and this morning proved it for me.” Helios’ eyes widen in realization, and Selene looks at him grimly. “I don’t think we can act on it yet. If we do anything, it’s gonna be suspicious, so we have to wait for the worst to happen.”

Helios frowns. “I’m not good at waiting.” he murmurs and Selene cracks a smile, the corner of his eyes crinkling in amusement. “I have something to say to you, too.” he takes his time to explain what Hayden has called him in for and he grimaces at the disturbed expression that takes over Selene’s face.

He looks like he is about to say something about the situation though he ends up being interrupted by one of the hangar techies calling for a Navigator, and Selene – deciding he doesn’t want to be in Abel’s presence – volunteers to head off to the hangar. Helios tags along and Selene lets him, even though he doesn’t know how much help he is going to be.

It turns out to be plenty help because Cain is in the hangar, looking ready to snap and tear someone’s head the fuck off, and Helios actually has to rush in and tackle the other Fighter from behind when he looks ready to bash one of the engineer’s face in. It takes a bit of manoeuvring, because he has to wrap his left arm around Cain’s left elbow, then kick his knees into the back of his legs to force him to crumble.

His right arm wraps around Cain’s right and shoves him back, causing them both to nearly fall backwards, and Helios lets out a loud **_“fuck!”_** when Cain bashes his head into his face. Thankfully, his nose doesn’t seem to be bleeding, but it definitely hurts hard as fuck, and his grip on the other Fighter falters. Cain takes that as opportunity to wrench himself away, whirls around with his fist raised, and then comes to an abrupt halt when he sees who it is that has tried to subdue him.

They are both glaring at each other – Cain’s looking way more wild, aggressive than Helios’ – until Cain starts laughing loudly, his arm dropping abruptly and limply, his body losing all tension, and Helios just stares at him like he is a madman. Selene pats at his back, trying to soothe him, and he pushes past him so that he can start talking to the engineers about what is happening.

It is when the techies are getting closer to the ship and Selene is descending into the cockpit that Cain finally explains to him what has happened. Someone got into his ship, but it isn’t anyone that he seems to recognize, and Helios doesn’t tell him that it is absolutely disturbing that Cain can tell everyone part by how they smell. Instead of giving him an answer, he just looks at the Reliant, takes in the familiar design, and he crosses his arms while he waits for Selene’s work to be finished. His nose is still smarting from Cain bashing his head into his face, but that seems like something that some painkillers can fix with ease.

“You like your Nav, Queenie?” Cain asks suddenly, breaking the soothing cacophony that Selene’s fiddling about in the cockpit has been producing, and he lets out a quiet ‘hm?’ in response. “You like your Navigator? Happy with him?”

Helios blinks. “Yeah? Selene and I are good friends now.” or good enough, if he wants to be honest. “I trust him.”

Silence follows after, and he almost hopes that that is all that Cain wants to ask. He tries to focus on Selene, but his attention is instead swept away by Cain again when he _feels_ him behind him. He presses his chest against Helios’ back and lets a hand settle on his hip, almost absentminded as it strokes the waistband of his trousers. Cain bends down only a little, his breath hot as it puffs over Helios’ earlobe, and he bites back a gasp. “You ever get the urge to fuck him, Helios?”

 _“No.”_ he yelps out, his body jerking forward only for the hand on his hip to yank him back. “We’re just friends – _let go of me –”_

“You’d look good together.” Cain’s voice is a rumble in the back of his head, his words heavy like honey as he murmurs them into his ear. The engineers and Selene are almost done. “But you won’t be gettin’ with him, will you?” Helios shakes his head. Finally, after what feels like years, Cain steps away, gives him some air to breathe in again, and he acts like he hasn’t done anything when Selene comes out of the Reliant and begins to give them all the rundown of what has happened.

Cain is restless when Selene tells Helios to go around and stop the others from getting on their ships and they share a knowing look with one another. They already know who the perpetrator is, but the issue is actually being able to do anything about it. “Oi, Praxis! Don’t touch your fucking ship!” Cain yells out and Helios jolts, looks up, and cries out in dismay when he realizes that Praxis is about to get on the Tiberius to – probably – run some simulations later. “Someone’s messed with it! Ask Gradient here!” Praxis looks at Selene, then sighs, but he does step away from the Tiberius.

When Helios turns to thank Cain, the other Fighter has already bolted out and left him there. Selene touches his elbow at the exact same time, gets his attention, and says, “are you okay? Are you getting sick? You’re red in the face.”

“I’m – I’m fine! Just a little flustered after my morning, that’s all.” he says. “Go back to your work, okay? I’ll stop anyone else from getting on the ships and I’ll explain the situation to them.”

“Do you need my help?” Praxis asks.

Given that he doesn’t think he can handle the close attention of another handsome man, Helios shakes his head. “It’s okay, I’ll handle it. Thank you, Praxis, though. At least you asked before leaving.”

He gets a wry smile before Praxis leaves, Selene following after, and Helios is left alone to busy himself with warning the others. It makes the heat in his stomach go away, makes him almost forget about how Cain has felt when he has been pressing against him, and Helios exhales heavily. Juliana, an engineer, asks him if he wants to play poker with them, eyes glimmering, and he can tell she wants to get back the vape stick she lost to him, but he politely declines. Besides, that vape stick is his first victory in poker, and it smells really nice too – thank you!

 

It takes a good, long while before he finally manages to convince some of the Fighters, Navigators, Fighter-Navigator duos, and engineers to _not_ get inside any of the ships. He has to argue with some of the Navigators and run circles around them with his words before they relent, and the Fighters he has to kick in the dick – literally – to get them to stop showboating and to listen.

He wonders if Valentina has also had to go through this. Has she had to go around and kick Fighters in the dick or clit because they are being dumb as hell? Has she ever had to argue with Navigators? He can only imagine the look on their faces when his sister, as tall as Praxis, yells at them to follow her orders. Most of them haven’t taken him seriously because he is new, which brings him back to his previous thought:

Being new in the military _sucks dick._ He rubs at his face aggressively, wondering if he should go back to his bunk and just sleep the rest of the day away; no one will blame him for that, right? Definitely not Selene, but what about Hayden? Things can’t get any worse, anyway. What else is going to happen? A monster eats him? The Kepler becomes the plot to that thousands year old movie, _Alien_?

There is no way this day can get any wilder.

It is then that his stomach decides at that moment to clench in on itself and release the most embarrassing growl, which is even worse because Praxis and his Navigator, Ethos, are walking right by him when that happens. Seeing Praxis twice in one day with unfortunate circumstances are not his idea of a good day, especially when the taller Fighter is look at him with something akin to concern in his eyes.

Ethos is the one who taps his back and causes him to stop walking, turning to look at the cute little Navigator who beams up at him, “Praxis and I were just heading to the mess deck.” he says, the invitation clear in his words, and a stubborn burn in his eyes that tells Helios he won’t be able to say no. His lips curl up wider in his grin. “Wanna join us?”

Praxis looks at him with a gentle smile of his own – so small, minuscule, easy to be missed – and Helios’ heart skips a beat. “Yeah, yeah sure. I don’t mind.” Helios babbles. “I didn’t – I haven’t really had a chance to eat all morning,” Praxis’ eyes harden, probably thinking back to the hangar, and Helios resolutely continues, “and I was, you know, called in by – well, Commander Hayden, because – yes. Then… Hangar. Yeah.” he sounds so stupid right now, but when Praxis’ eye glimmers with amusement and when Ethos looks at him with that pleasant grin of his, Helios finds he doesn’t mind right now. “Let’s go?”

The mess deck is surprisingly packed, though when he checks the clock he sees it is at _peak_ late breakfast early lunch hour, that time where the people who have nothing to do and those who are punctual are shoving against each other to be served slop. The Fighters get a very, very tasteless borscht most days, sometimes bland okroshka if they are lucky. The Navigators get fed something that looks like vomit for soup with slimy looking chickpeas in another small bowl most days, and sometimes they get soggy vegetables as sides. He likes to think the Fighters get the better end of the bargain.

Today seems like an okroshka sort of day and Helios gets two – one for himself and the other for Ethos, who looks ready to pass out when he has gotten his repulsive, green soup – and he only just manages to set the soup down for the Navigator before his day just gets even worse.

“Helios!” a voice barks out for him, a very recognizable voice, and he tenses up on the bench. Praxis looks just as tense as he does, then his eye widens with murderous intent as he looks over Helios’ shoulder to see where Cain is sitting, his lips curling into a scowl that mars his expression and he doesn’t know what to do. Ethos just looks between them both and then, wisely, scoots away from Praxis so that he can eat his soup in relative peace. “Get over here, right now!” impatience is clear in Cain’s voice now, his tone demanding, and Helios looks at Praxis and Ethos apologetically.

“You don’t have to listen to him.” Praxis whispers lowly. It makes him think of Encke, of how two men are now deciding to stand up for him, and he averts his gaze. He grabs at his tray, gives Praxis a strained smile, then heads on over to where Cain is.

Deimos is there too, looking at him… almost apologetically, as if he didn’t mean to tear him away from Praxis and Ethos. Helios doesn’t acknowledge the look, but he does try to sit next to Deimos – Cain growls at him when he does, and Helios hastily sits next to him instead. “Better.” Cain says darkly, and Helios tries not to linger on that long. “You hanging out with _Praxis_ now?”

Helios decides not to answer. He grabs at his spoon and takes a sip of his soup instead, and tastes cold blandness, the fruits and vegetables barely in the okroshka, and Deimos watches him curiously. Deimos’ own borscht is halfway done, though he seems more content to just stir the contents than to actually eat now. “Don’t wanna answer, huh, Queenie? Fair enough. You wanna answer something else for me then?” he is leaning close to Helios again, though not as close as the hangar, but it still makes him tense.

Something pools in his belly and Helios thinks of – thinks of Colterons, of blood, of the surgery videos that Valentina always watches before she takes her leave to join the military – and he turns his head a minuscule amount to look at Cain. “Sure?”

“How’d the talk with Abel go this morning?”

His spoon drops into his okroshka, some of the soup splashing onto the table, and the used, scratch metal utensil ends up sinking into the white-green mix. Cain is giving him a tight-lipped smile when he looks at him properly, the glint in his eyes dangerous, deadly, and Helios…

Well. Helios looks at Cain, gives him a lost look, and then he slams his fist right into that permanently smug face of his and sends him flying across the bench, slamming into another Fighter, and he gets up and _runs_ when a fight starts breaking out. The Navigators are yelling in surprise, most of them doing their best to clear out of the mess deck as things descend into chaos. Within minutes of the fight starting, Encke and a few other higher-ranked Fighters are rushing towards the mess deck, bumping into Helios and not asking questions as they have better things to be worried about, and he sequesters himself away into the one area he knows he can at least be in peace.

 

The observation deck gives him a different view than what he is used to in Mars – the light pollution there isn’t bad enough that he can’t see some of the constellations at night there, and the moons have always been a comfort to him. They have names, Valentina has told him that they do, but she has also admitted that she doesn’t know what the names are. She just knows that they are taken from twins, and that she promises him she will protect him like the moons watch over them both.

Here, there are no moons to distract him. There is nothing but the endless vastness of the stars, twinkling and illuminating the empty void before him – he presses his palm against the panel separating him from the outside, that makes him feel caged away from what he feels like is so close to his touch. Is it really that bad to die out there in the stars? He smiles faintly to himself, feels a calm that he hasn’t felt in the few weeks that he has been here, in the months he has been riding on the ship from Mars to Earth, and he exhales. It’s so beautiful here; surrounded by the stars, by the barely there humming of the machinery around him, and Helios almost feels like he is in love with the world around him.

The doors behind him slide open and then press shut, and he freezes when he sees the intruder’s reflection in the panel in front of him.

Cain looks roughed up, like he has just been out of a brawl, and Helios is sure that that is most definitely the case. When he turns to look at Cain properly, he isn’t surprised at all by how _angry_ he looks. There is _murder_ written in every muscle of his body, in the twisted expression on his face, in those wild, wide eyes of his, and Helios lets one foot slide back and readies himself for a fight. Cain throws the first punch, and Helios is able to duck out of that one – it is a bit easier to dodge or block his punches when Cain is swinging too widely, uncontrolled and manic, looking so buzzed up and excited.

This almost isn’t like a fight – it feels more like two dogs lunging at each other with how they keep going back and forth, with Cain wanting to do _something_ to Helios, and him wanting to avoid any more injuries than necessary.

A fist slams into his stomach when he throws a left hook, stealing the breath right out of him, and Helios is able to shove Cain back to try and regain himself. “What the fuck are you doing?” Helios manages out finally, gets a kick off into Cain’s side when the other is distracted enough, and he backs away because he really, _really_ doesn’t want to keep fighting. “I just – I just want to look at the stars right now! Fuck off!”

That seems to get something back to Cain. His eyes snap onto Helios when he gets up, though he is hunched over and cradling at his side, and he is staring right through Helios. “Just wanna… look at the stars, huh?” he looks terrible with the growing bruises on his face, with a bleeding lip and broken nose, with a hand settling on his side. Helios is definitely doing way better, physically, but Cain still looks so damn _alive_ that it makes him hesitate. “Just the _stars._ Punch me in the face and run off to look at the stars? Thassit?”

“Yeah,” Helios manages out, pain beginning to creep in slowly as the adrenaline dies down, “just wanna look at stars, and not deal with you, or Abel, or Navigators, Fighters, nothin’. Just wanna look at some _fuckin’ stars._ Thassit!”

Cain opens his mouth, makes a show of dragging his tongue across his upper row of teeth, then snorts and staggers over to the panel. He places a palm on the clear glass so that he can force himself to stand up, and says, “get over here then. Look at the stars. You looked so fuckin’ pretty ‘fore I came, ‘fore I scared you shitless.” Helios watches him. Eyes him up and down. Cain seems to notice, because he snorts and, finally standing confidently, wipes the blood on his face on his jacket sleeve and smears red above his lip. “I’m not gonna do shit. I feel stiff now – you ruined my high.”

Still a bit suspicious, Helios keeps him at an arm’s length, and even further, when he steps up to the panel and looks up at the white-freckled darkness. It feels almost ridiculous to stare up at the stars with the blood rushing in his ears, with soreness and pain beginning to bloom on where Cain has landed successful hits, and yet… and yet his mind clears again, his world feels _safe_ underneath the twinkling beauties in front of him.

It feels like Valentina is watching him, protecting him, and Helios closes his eyes to fight back the tears.

He hears the heavy thunks of boots heading his way, and he looks over to his left, gets ready to say something seething to him in case he wants to fight, but finds himself silenced instead when Cain’s right hand fists in his hair and jerks him closer to him. His left settles on his shoulder when he is made to face Cain completely, and Helios goes rigid when the unexpected happens.

Cain presses his lips against his in a rough kiss, blood from his split bottom-lip smearing across Helios’ mouth like the most twisted form of lipstick, and his hands keep him trapped, pinned against him. He raises his hands up to push Cain away, but ends up settling them on his chest instead, drops his mouth open when he feels his tongue prodding and he shivers. Moans a bit shamefully when Cain decides being nice isn’t on his agenda today, kisses fast and messy and _wet_ and Helios’ head is spinning. His fingers curl into fists atop of Cain, his breath coming up short, and Helios gasps in air when they break the kiss.

“Wait-” Helios tries, but Cain is back on him again with another biting kiss, hard and painful but messy, good, tongues rubbing against each other because he has no sense of self-control, lets himself be taken up in the whirlwind of emotions and intensity that is – that is _this._ That makes him shake, makes the pain and pleasure blend in a messy slide against each other, the adrenaline creeping back in when Cain slams him against the glass panel and he feels like he is going to _break._ “Wait,” he attempts again when Cain breaks the kiss off and he slams his palm against the other’s mouth to stop him, “calm – calm down. I’m… it’s adrenaline.”

They are both frozen in place; their breathing is heavy, Cain’s coming out in pants and Helios’ in shuddering gasps. “I gotta – I gotta go.” he manages out. “You go to med bay. I’m going. I’m _going._ ” Helios repeats, until he is pushing Cain away, until he is being let go, and he covers his red-hot ears as he runs back to his bunk.

Sleep. He just needs to sleep. He needs to sleep and forget about everything else that has happened. Needs to pretend that he didn’t get kissed, that Cain didn’t look at him like he wants to eat him alive.

He just needs to go to sleep.

 

 

Valentina screams in his dreams about a light. Her voice overcome with a dreadful fright. And over and over and over, in his dreams, the only thing she could scream was, “ ** _STAY AWAY FROM THE LIGHT.”_**


	5. Chapter 5

He wakes up to the sensation of someone shaking him back and forth, to sweat cooling on his skin and to puffy, dried eyes again. When he looks up at whoever it is that is shaking him awake he sees Selene, takes in his concerned, scared expression, and Helios closes his eyes once more. Without thinking about it, he surges upwards and wraps his arms around Selene, holds him close, and _sobs_ into his shoulder. “It was just a dream,” he promises, “it’s okay, okay? It was just a dream. It was just a dream.” he says over and over again, until Helios is back into reality again and he is bowing his head down, embarrassed, when he lets go of Selene. “You… should probably go to the ship psychologist,” he tries to say delicately, “this isn’t good for you.”

“It’s just stress.” Helios murmurs while he rubs at his face. “M’gonna brush my teeth and… can I talk to you about something that happened last night?” Selene grimaces, but nods nonetheless, and Helios covers his mouth to laugh before he goes to take a piss, wash up, and brush his teeth. The repetitive motions of the day – or what is supposed to be the day – helps edge him away from the nightmare he has had. He can’t even really remember it, can’t remember much of it other than it – it _hurt_ to have it. He is at the very least fortunate that Selene is so patient with him, willing to let his dreams slide, and won’t ask him what they are about.

He doesn’t think he will _ever_ be ready to talk about Valentina, not until they have confirmed her dead. Not until they have made sure there really is no, _no_ way to find her body ever again. No way to confirm her alive. He won’t… he spits the water out of his mouth and into the sink, washes his hands again just to busy himself a little more, and then steps outside to see Selene working _rather intensely_ on his tablet. “What are you doing?” he asks, and Selene jerks upwards in surprise, almost dropping in the tablet in his hands. “Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Selene fumbles out. “I’ve been working on this since we got out of the ship.” he says after a bit more fiddling. “I think I know what’s wrong with – with Abel,” he manages out, “but I can’t do anything right now.”

“And if we say anything to Commander Hayden, the worst’ll happen.” Helios murmurs out. “I really, really did not expect my first mission to go like this.” he says wearily and Selene cracks a smile at that, looks tired but content, and Helios settles next to him on the lower bed-bunk. “Do you think anything will happen today? With Abel and… whatever is wrong with him?”

Selene hums, looks down at his tablet, then turns it over to show Helios. He blinks, then jerks back when he sees a very quick flash of white, and he squints. “That,” Selene says, “should fix whatever is wrong with Abel.” he looks away and stares at the wall opposite to the door, his hands still fiddling with his tablet while he looks back and forth between Helios and the wall. “Whatever happens,” Selene says slowly, softly, “Abel will be the one to blame for it, and the only thing you and I can do is…” he shrugs. “We’ll see when it happens. Didn’t you want to talk to me about something?”

Oh. Right, he did; now that he is sitting here, relaxed, he almost doesn’t want to bring it up. His throat tightens up and he swallows the uneasiness down, before he begins explaining what he has done yesterday: everything during the hangar after Selene left, then the mess deck, the observation bay, and everything else that has transpired between him and Cain, though he doesn’t bring up the kiss. When he finishes explaining, he realizes that Selene is looking at him with something that is far, far too acutely similar to distress. “I think you should tell Commander Encke.” is what Selene says, and Helios goes rigid next to him. “Look, I don’t know if this is a Fighter thing –”

“It _isn’t._ ” Helios says. “It’s a _Cain thing,_ and Cain is on his own whole level, okay?”

Selene purses his lips and he wishes that the reflective look his face takes on after didn’t make Helios so nervous. It isn’t as if Selene is going to hurt him – he knows he won’t, not with words or fists, even though Helios knows himself well-enough to be able to say, confidently, that he can pin Selene down and win in a fight against him. He hopes it doesn’t come down to that, though. “Okay, I still think you should tell Encke.”

“And do what? Get him sent in the brig? And leave Abel with no Fighter at his side?” Helios says snidely and Selene actually shuts up at that, looks at him perplexed. “If I really had to, I would’ve told Encke long ago, okay?” Selene’s eyes narrow, the baffled look on his face never once leaving. “And… right now, Abel isn’t _okay,_ and I don’t think having him be alone without Cain to keep him grounded is a good okay.”

“Do you even know if Cain is doing anything to keep him grounded?” Selene asks delicately, “did you even ask him?”

The question roots him in his spot, causes his mouth to fall open and snap shut like a trout, then it is with dismay that he realizes that… no, he doesn’t know if Cain has been even keeping check on Abel at all. Maybe – maybe he is, though, because how else did Cain know he has been talking with Abel? He didn’t see him anywhere near the hallways, and – “I don’t know.” Helios says, “he… just seems to… he always brings up Abel to me so I – I assumed… I really don’t know. Selene,” he scratches at his cheek, “I think he does, though. I think he’s been keeping an eye on Abel.”

“Not close enough an eye, don’t you think?” Selene gets up then and Helios stares at him quietly, watches him get up and move towards the door. “Be careful, Helios. I don’t trust Cain, but… I’m trusting your judgement.”

Something about that stings, and Helios can only watch as the doors slide open and shut and stays staring even after Selene is already gone. Hopefully, today will just be a simple, nice day.

 

He needs to stop hoping for things. He takes one step out the door after half an hour of just laying on his bed only for the alarm to go off and for everyone to be bounding out of their rooms, some of them half-dressed, as they run off to go check on the bridge, hangar, and anywhere else that needs to be checked on. Helios himself is dashing towards the bridge, stopped only briefly in the hallway because he ends up slamming into Deimos and causing them both to tumble down onto the floor. “Shit, sorry!” he yells out, “but I gotta go – Selene –”

Deimos grabs him by the back of his jacket and the tug against his arms causes him to stop in his haste. He looks over to Deimos who is staring at him near lifelessly, a quiet dread climbing up the base of his spine, and Helios opens his mouth to speak again when a quieter, deep voice interrupts him, “Abel hasn’t been normal lately.”

“You… you can talk?” he recoils at that, then it takes his brain a second to register what Deimos has said, and he breaks himself out of his hold just to turn around and grab him by his shoulders. “Wait, what do you mean? You have to let me know everything before I go – and hurry up!” Selene may be in danger, especially because if this alert is going off… then… then Abel is on the move. The power cuts out, bathing them in darkness for far too long, before it flickers back on, and Helios’ heart is pounding in his ears. “Deimos… _please._ ”

Those pale, spiritless eyes stare through him, stunning and sharp and Helios feels as though his voice has been stolen from him, and Deimos smirks at him for a brief second before he answers, “he keeps defying Cain.” his voice is practically scratching its way out of his throat as he speaks, “keeps arguing with him. Flirting with you.” he meekly removes Helios’ hands from his shoulders then shoves him away, smiling all the while, and he stares at Deimos before slowly backing away. They don’t say anything else, a silence hanging between them that grows heavier and heavier with each step Helios takes away from him, before he turns around finally and _sprints._

The bridge doors open up for him far too slowly, and he lurches into the room, mouth open to scream, only for him to be silenced as a painfully disinterested voice calls out to him and announces their death in fifteen minutes.

He stands, stock-still, in front of the door for a long, _long_ time, and only snaps out of his stupor when Ethos is bounding up to him, panicked and grabbing at his elbows, and babbling to him about _something._ Something so very important that Helios tries to keep up with, but he has to repeatedly tell him to calm down, slow down, because he can’t _get it_ and Selene has to come and simplify it later.

“I’m going to go the hangar.” Selene says, and Helios opens his mouth to volunteer to join him but a hand slaps onto his mouth. “Find Cain. Abel was – he was here some time ago, and he threw Keeler off and – actually _fought_ some people off. He’s stronger than you think, so find Cain. Go. _Go get him!_ ” his voice is a hiss, dark and in-control, and Helios’ mouth is dry. “Go!” he shoves the tablet in Helios’ hands, “and show Abel the light when you see him, okay?”

Valentina’s panicked, scared eyes stare back at him. He blinks and opens his eyes up to see Selene’s confident, reassured expression, and he holds onto the tablet like one would their baby. “I’ll go look for Cain.” he promises, feels a sense of ease when other Fighters are coming in to help the more frail Navigators, and Selene is pushing past him to hurry his way on over to the hangar. He grabs at a random Fighter’s shoulder – a short one, Athos? – and stops him in place, “have you seen Cain?” he asks, and Athos hums thoughtfully before beaming.

“Oh, yeah! I think I saw him in the hallway near his bunk, talking to Abel about something before the alert. Check there?” his voice is so boyish and playful that it catches him off-guard for a second, but he nods at Athos and lets go of him to go running off for Cain.

 

His heart is pounding in his chest and he can’t tell if it’s because he is about to run into Cain, or because the alarms are still going off. He grabs at one corner and stops, panting and gasping because the tension in his chest is making it all the harder to run, though it only tightens up and worsens when he hears two familiar voices.

“Come on, Cain,” Abel purrs, “no one’s around, we can do whatever, right…?” his palm digs into the wall, his face burning hot with embarrassment and shame, and he stutters and tumbles backwards when it hits him that Abel is trying very hard to fuck Cain right now. From what he can see, before he basically tried to hide, Cain almost doesn’t seem that bothered… but the smile he has on his face is tight, his eyes dull and indifferent, and his hands above Abel’s head.

“You’ve been so weird lately, princess.” Cain’s voice says, sounding far too aloof and nonchalant for Helios’ comfort, “and I don’t think I’m really, _really_ that interested with someone who ain’t even himself. Tamperin’ with the fuckin’ ships, now this?” wait… Cain… _knew?_ How long has he known!? When did he… “I ain’t interested, _Abel._ ”

There is an angry huff, then the stomping of feet as Abel gets away from Cain, and he passes by Helios when he isn’t able to get what he wants from his Fighter. It is only a second, really, when their eyes meet, when they look at each other, and Helios’ grip on the tablet tightens. Abel’s eyes grow large with realization. “No.” Abel gasps out, then lunges forward and slams his fist into Helios’ cheek, catching him off-guard. Holy _shit!_ Since when did Abel hit this hard!?

He ducks away, clasping the tablet tightly to his chest, even as Abel is pouncing at him to get at it. “Give that to me, now!” Abel yells, then gurgles in surprise when Helios manages a hard kick into his stomach. Even though that does manage to give Helios some time to get back onto his feet again, Abel doesn’t seem that perturbed by the kick and, instead, retreats when Cain comes onto the scene.

“Get back here!” Helios yells, then turns to Cain and grabs him by his hand and tugs him along. “We have to stop Abel, come with me, you dumb **_fuck!_** ” he hears him laughing from behind him and he can’t bring himself to care right now, not when he has far, far more pressing things to worry about. He drags Cain with him for a while before he lets go finally, finding the other man as too much weight to be lugging around like that, and he grabs at his own hair with his free hand when he realizes he has no clue where the fuck Abel has gone.

They don’t have a lot of time left either. What is he going to do? He inhales and exhales through his mouth, trying to soothe the rising fright in his chest, and he nearly bursts out of his skin when Cain puts a hand on his shoulder. “Isn’t that your Navigator?”

“Selene?” he squawks out, then looks over to where he is pointing and he cries out even louder. He wrenches himself away from Cain and practically dives over to Selene to check on him from where he is slumping over, a hand pressing against his side, and – “you’re bleeding!” he gasps. “You’ve been cut – did Abel –?”

“He didn’t – didn’t mean to.” Selene grits out, “he went to the observation bay. If you – if you get there on time, you can stop him, and when you do – take that tablet back to the bridge. It’ll stop _everything._ I’ll get to the med bay myself.”

“But –.”

“ _GO!”_

 

It feels almost surreal when Abel starts talking to them, his eyes listless and his movements almost sluggish. Cain is so quiet next to Helios, just observing Abel and taking everything in, and he almost seems to be taken in by the way Abel talks; sweet and captivating, seductive. He doesn’t know if he can fight Cain off if he decides to listen to Abel instead of Helios, especially when something about the Navigator is definitely _off,_ and he gets ready to convince Cain in case he needs to –

And instead he chokes on his own surprise and horror when Cain manages to trick Abel and slam him down onto his back instead, hands wrapping tight around his throat and holding him down by the lack of air alone. “What’cha waitin’ on, Queenie?” Cain growls out, and Helios is falling beside Abel’s head to show him the flash of light from the tablet; Cain lets go and Abel just lays there, his eyes glazed over, before they slip shut and he falls unconscious.

Cain stands up, his fingers briefly stroking over Abel’s lips, and an odd, toothy grin spreads out on his face. “Let’s get to the bridge.” Helios suggests awkwardly, watches as Cain slings Abel over his shoulder, and he follows Helios back to the bridge instead of going to the med way where the Navigator needs to be. Ethos is waiting for him when he gets back, takes the tablet from Helios without explaining to him why there are a bunch of unconscious Fighters and Navigators everywhere, and gets to working on stopping the release of poisonous gas into the bridge. He links the tablet into a console after a while, yells out a very unapologetic, “sorry everyone!” then a bright flash of white takes over the entire bridge.

He is seeing spots in his vision for a bit, and Cain snarls like a wild animal from having to be exposed to the light like that. Some of the unconscious Fighters come to their senses, waking up and rubbing at their heads, and there seems to be a general consensus of _“I don’t remember what happened after waking up this morning.”_ which Helios is glad he doesn’t have the problem of. Cain is still standing there, Abel still slung over his shoulder and still very much unconscious, and Helios tries not to look at him.

“You’re coming to the med bay with me.” is what Cain says, and Helios finds himself obeying and following even though he knows that the other man doesn’t have any way of forcing him to come along. It lets him check up on Selene while Harold is absolutely exasperated by another injured person coming to the med bay, and Helios slowly sits down onto the chair while Cain is being lectured by the medical officer for some reason or another.

“You did it.” Selene says gently, puts his hand on top of Helios’ and blinks in surprise when his hand is grabbed by both of his and brought up to his forehead. “Did something happen…?”

His mouth doesn’t want to work. Helios just nuzzles into Selene’s clasped hand, feeling almost ridiculous, and it takes him a few swallows before he says, “I thought… I thought I lost my friend. I thought we were going to die. I – I thought…”

 

_‘I thought this was what happened to Valentina.’_

Harold lets him stay there for a bit longer before he is running him out and telling him that the Navigators are going to need their rest. Cain doesn’t leave him alone, however – the moment they are in the hallway, he is grabbing at Helios and slamming him into a supply closet, shoving him against the shelves, and he groans from the painful way they dig into his back. “You did good out there, Queenie.” Cain hums out, his hands running almost appreciatively across Helios’ belly, slipping underneath his shirt to be able to stroke at his skin. “Did fucking fantastic.”

“Are you – are you actually…” Helios tries to come up with something, _anything_ to say, though his brain malfunctions when Cain bends down to bite at his neck. The stress from the entire day, the surprise, and the shocking mix of pleasure-pain as teeth break through his skin makes him go limp underneath the other. He shrugs his jacket off when Cain tugs at his sleeves, and Helios tilts his head to the side when he feels lips skirt along, feather-soft, over his knuckles, tracing down to kiss and bite at his wrist.

Cain’s hands are rolling his shirt up, exposing more of his skin, until he has it bundled up underneath his collar. “You gonna be good for me right now, Helios?” Cain asks, his breath puffing hotly against Helios’ ear, his body settling in between his legs and Helios moans when he feels the other Fighter grinding into him, making him painfully aware of his need tenting his trousers. “Always runnin’, fightin’… but you’re not doin’ either right now, right?” Helios nods, his head growing fuzzy with the pleasure as Cain won’t stop _grinding_ into him, his fingers sliding up his abdomen, all the way to his pecs, and then squeezing at his nipples.

“You’re gonna be good,” he says lowly, “and you’re gonna take what I give you.”

Helios’ breath stutters. Cain’s grin is manic, eyes dark, and he licks his lips before he says, “good boy,” and sets to work on breaking Helios open.

 

 

 

 

The entire aftermath of that scenario is a huge mess – Selene and him have to go up and testify for Abel, fighting tooth and nail to make sure that nothing happens to him, and they manage to even convince them of the existence of the Anglers. Ethos has to be brought up to court as well, testifying to the existence of the Anglers and explaining to them what he and Selene have been able to gleam from working on this, and bring up the existence of the two-language system.

He never brings up the fact that Cain has known about this, doesn’t tell it to Selene, and lies instead that Abel’s Fighter has been just as surprised as everyone else was when he learns that he has been the perpetrator of everything at the time. He even says the bold-faced lie while Cain is there, trying not to grin too wide because he realizes what Helios is doing, and he is surprised that the court buys his fib. Abel isn’t allowed back into work, but it only takes about three days before Keeler is able to convince Hayden to bring the Navigator back onto the Kepler’s workforce.

Cain doesn’t leave him alone after everything that has happened. Bite marks litter his skin now, and are constantly renewed because Cain loves using his teeth, and he should put a stop to it. He doesn’t know if Abel knows, but he knows that he – he _cares_ for Cain, right? So he needs to put a stop to this relationship.

He needs to.

Instead, he coasts along the days with the guilt while he befriends Abel and becomes best friends with Selene, who seems to be hiding something from him. He knows he is – sees it in the way he glances at Abel and the other Navigator looks back at Selene, something shared between them both, and Helios never brings this up to Cain. The days blend in together a bit when they, thankfully, haven’t had a month of worrying about Colterons, Anglers, or _literally anything else that wants to fucking kill them._

Helios thinks he is due a vacation, but he just got here and he really doesn’t want to step away just yet.

It should be a normal day today; he has made it a habit of picking Selene up at the end of his work shift, waiting by the bridge doors while he finishes things up or stops to talk with some of the other Navigators just to have better relations with them. Today, however, Abel is waiting by the door as well, looking almost guilty and nervous, and Helios doesn’t think much about it at first. When Abel calls out to him, motions him to come over, that Helios begins to feel some trepidation. “Something wrong, Abel?” he asks.

Abel’s eyes dart side to side, making sure no one is around, then he says, petal soft, “Valentina Volkov?”

His heart stops in his chest.

 

 

“I… I think I know where to find her.”

 

 

 

That night when he goes to sleep he dreams of his tenth birthday, and sees Valentina’s smiling face.

**Author's Note:**

> [ Pillowfort. ](https://www.pillowfort.social/transistor) | [ Tumblr. ](https://transistories.tumblr.com/) | [Twitter.](https://twitter.com/EmptyHeartLover)


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